Hell's fire
by du1387
Summary: Crossover between the XMen and the Teen Titans. Minor update on September 17. Added redone chapter 1
1. Prologue

Alright everyone, this is a crossover between X-Men and the Teen Titans. I do not own any characters in this story (and if I did I'd be filthy rich). All original characters are my own creation. If, by some fluke, any of these characters resemble you in any way, I offer you my sincere apologies and promise that these are fictional characters based purely on imagination.

Target: William Tudor

Age: 20

Profile: 6'0 Brown hair, medium muscle mass, brown eyes.

Danger: Maximum. Terminate at all costs.

An assassin read this on his laptop in a small dark room. He smiled and laughed. He hadn't had an assignment this challenging in a while. The assassin walked out of the dark room and into a dimly lit hall. He pushed a panel in the wall open and walked through into a large room. He flicked the switch and a light came on, bathing the room in white light and revealing many weapons. He walked across the room and picked out 4 different guns, and grabbed a few various other things. Then he walked out, and turned out the light.

After changing into his gear, the assassin started to walk out when he glanced in the mirror. He looked at his reflection. He had tan skin, brown hair and brown eyes. His body was well toned and ready for any conflict. Being appealing to many women, his sex life was well taken care of, however, what really satisfied him was the adrenaline rush of the hunt, and the look in the eyes of the person he was about to kill. He was dressed in black pants, a black muscle shirt, and a black overcoat. "I should really get some new colors," he thought to himself. Then he walked out into the night.

20 minutes later, downtown New Orleans

Taking the back roads in a cobblestone alleyway, Will Tudor hurried along the alley way to the secret door that led to his getaway, and his hideout. He took brisk steps and had almost reached it when he heard a voice behind him say, "So what is it about you that warrants being killed I wonder?" Will smiled to himself. He knew that voice, from another time and another place. He slowly turned around, and looked into the face of Ben Boone. Amazingly enough, time had not done too much to alter either of their faces too much, and they could easily recognize each other. The locked gazes, and within a few seconds, Ben recognized his target. "Hm… long time no see," he said to Will. "Too long, maybe we can catch up over a few drinks," said Will unperturbed by the gun in Ben's hand. "I don't think so," stated Ben coldly, raising the gun up the get the perfect chest shot. Will almost laughed at Ben. A gun? Kill him? He smirked and stated, "You're not going to kill me."

Ben narrowed his eyes. "Oh really," he stated, "and why not?" Will took a few steps forward and said in almost a whisper, "there are some people who don't die very easily." He moved the gun down, and said, "I'm one of them." In less time than someone could possibly comprehend, he raised the gun and fired two shots at Will's head, and looked in horror as the bullets froze in midair, leaving Will unmarked. Will blinked and grinned. "You don't exactly possess the power to take me down," he said calmly. "Never have, never will."

Ben recoiled. "What do you mean, never have?" "Want me to show you?" asked Will, walking to his hideout. Ben looked unsure of himself, and then made to follow him, while reaching into a coat pocket, and pulling out an explosive device. Ben put it on Will's back and ran for it. In three seconds, it exploded, sending tiny bits of Will everywhere. "Some people can't be killed my ass," muttered Ben. "It was a fluke with a head thing. It was a trick of the light or something." "Oh but it wasn't a fluke," said Will's voice from no where. "Ben whirled around, but still didn't see anything. "What the hell are you?" he asked slightly panicked. "I'm what you are," said Will. "Only I know about what I am. Now, are you absolutely sure you killed me?

Horrified, Ben looked at the spot where the explosive had detonated. As if he had been blocked from Ben's sight, Will appeared "Sadly, you don't have this kind of power," said Will. "But yours isn't exactly small either. If you want to know what you can really do, and why you do what you do, then I have those answers." "You mean kill people?" asked Ben, still freaked out, "it's because I like the rush." "And when did you start wanting this rush?" asked Will. Ben remained silent for a minute, and eventually said, around my 18th birthday. "Ah," said Will, "and how did you obtain those talents?" "Natural ability," said Ben shiftily. "Natural ability," stated Will, "yes, the natural ability you think it is, no." He started walking, and then pushed a hidden button. All at once, the wall opened to reveal a narrow passageway. "If you want to know who you really are, and why you became this way, then you'll follow me. If not, then go back to sleeping with your girl of the week." He pulled out a handheld and send a message. Ben's pda vibrated almost immediately after. "Consider the call off," said Will.

Ben looked down, and saw the same thing from the same number who had assigned the call, then he looked at Will. "You assigned me to try and kill yourself?" he asked. "Why?" "Well, isn't that the question of the century," replied Will. "As I've been trying to tell you for the past three minutes, your answers lie in what I have to offer." He descended into the passageway, and Ben followed. Soon after, the door slid shut, and they were in pitch blackness. "Um, any clue where we're going to go?" Ben asked. Will laughed and said, "I forgot that I'm not alone." Suddenly a lighter appeared out of nowhere and flew into Will's hand. He then launched across the room igniting a torch, and then setting off a chain of other torches igniting. They walked down the now lit passageway until they emerged in a room with a silver dais in the middle of the room. Will lifted an orb on the dais and pressed another button.

The stone walls began to turn, faster and faster until they stopped, revealing a lit passageway. They walked into it and saw a high tech computer. The room was similar to the last room, with stone floorings, but it seemed altogether to be a slightly lighter atmosphere. Will walked to a computer and began typing, and then pictures of faces began pulling up. There were hundreds after they had all pulled up, including plenty that he knew, others that he didn't, and faces that looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place them. "I've been keeping tabs on everyone these past few years," Will explained. "Once I woke up I knew that others would eventually awake as well." Ben looked down at Will with a questioning glance. Will caught it and said, "Perhaps it is better if I tell you the whole story, from the beginning, as best as I can. I can assure you that everything is accurate and 100 true, without the exaggerations, and it was more difficult than you'd think getting some of this information." Ben snorted but managed to turn it into a cough. "What'd you have to do, wake the dead?" Will whirled around and said, "Actually, yes. I did have to wake a few corpses." Ben didn't doubt what Will had just said.

Will pressed a few buttons and then said, let me show you the whole story from the beginning, you will see it from a select few points of view, seeing as I have had to extract the memories from the precious few people who still have them. His eyes met Ben's. "Just relax," he said. Suddenly, their world disappeared and Ben saw a man inside a cave, a man with only one eye, who looked oddly familiar…


	2. Chapter 1 Proposition

Okay people, this story is a cross over between Teen Titans, fictional characters, and (don't shoot me for combining Marvel and DC) X-Men. These stories are fictional. Please note that I do not own any of the characters above accept for the fictional characters and any additional characters that I might choose to enter into the story.

Prologue. Somewhere out there…

Somewhere, hidden in a cave in Jump City, stood Slade. He was surveying the damage to his most recent hideout. The cave was nothing more than rocks, as all of the computers had been fried during the eruption. The cave was lifeless, and he contemplated forgetting the cave altogether. Then his eyes came to rest on a person, or rather, the statue that person had become. "Ah yes," he mused, "Terra. I wonder, what went wrong? Why did you betray me, your mentor, and the one who had given you so much? Oh well, its no use crying over the past." Then, he drew back a fist and prepared to destroy her by breaking her into little pieces but was stopped by a voice that said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you Slade."

"Who's there," asked Slade in a lazy, nonchalant voice while his dark calculating eye scanned the cave. "I am," said the voice, "the future ruler of Earth. You might be wondering why, why am I revealing myself to you…" 'It's a speaker' thought Slade to himself. He whirled to the left, then the right, searching for the source of the speaker. Out loud he said, "You would be correct, however, I will give you your chance to talk and in the process, I will probably find out."

"Very cute Slade," said the voice. 'A teenager's voice' realized Slade. "I am offering you a partnership. There is no maybe, there is no 'I'll decide later', there is now. Do you want a stake in the world? Do you want to become one of the most powerful people on the planet, do you want… to see the Titans defeated?"

"The answer to all of those questions is yes. However, what proof do I have that you will actually follow through with your word? You offer me the world, and yet all I have to go on would be a speaker hidden somewhere in this cave" stated Slade in a crisp tone, still searching for the speaker in the dark recesses of the cave. "I thought as much," said the voice, almost smugly. Slade had searched half of the cave, but still had not seen the speaker, or any wiring. "But I think that if you were to see what I have built in such a short time, you would understand what I am offering to you. And by the way, there is no speaker."

Slade stopped what he was doing, and narrowed his eye. "Then how am I hearing your voice if you are obviously not anywhere near?" he asked warily. "I am using telepathy," answered the voice, "I would think that you've heard of it." "Antagonizing the person you want to help you is not exactly the way to go about doing business," stated Slade, almost enjoying telling off the voice. "You haven't exactly been known for your generosity when it comes to your employees either," said the voice, and then Slade heard a crackling in the middle of the room. He whirled around and saw a portal opening. Inside it was a sphere of swirling light.

"If you wish to see what I have," said the voice, "step through this portal. It will take you to my lab, and you will understand what I am offering." Slade looked almost apprehensively at the portal, and then stated coldly, "cross me and you will regret it." Then he stepped through the portal.


	3. Chapter 2 Hello Greenland

Please see the Prologue for all advisories of this story. In any of these characters resemble you in any way, shape, or form, sorry but these characters are completely fictional.

Chapter One. Hello Greenland.

As Slade came out of the portal, he realized that he appeared to be in a gigantic atrium of some sort of laboratory. The floors were the pearly white of the stereotypical lab, and the walls were also white. He could see scientists moving around, and conducting experiments of some kind. Slade also looked around to see giant tubes filled with a liquid. 'Several people could fit in one of those' though Slade. Then he saw a person striding towards him. There was no foolishness in that walk. It was very military, however, the person doing the walking was not.

"Ah, Slade," said the voice from the speaker in the cave except now, he could actually see a person striding towards him. "Allow me to introduce myself simply as Death Wing." Slade took a moment to take in Death Wings appearance. Death Wing was thin, about 6 feet tall, and was wearing an expensively cut suit. He had black spiky hair, and his blue-grey eyes showed no mercy. He wasn't sheet white, but Death Wing was in desperate need of a tan.

"I know you are wondering where you are so, let me tell you. You are currently in Greenland at my genetics research lab." He began walking towards a door and Slade followed. "Here," stated Death Wing, "we have all of the greatest equipment in cloning and genetic manipulation. I can store someone's very being on a supercomputer that can hold more data than all of the computers in the world." "And where might this supercomputer be?" asked a very interested Slade. Death Wing caught the gleam of greed in Slade's eye. "Don't even think of stealing it," said Death Wing. "The supercomputer is beneath us. It takes up a very large chunk of space beneath this building, and you'd be hard pressed to find a way down to it without ruining the computer itself."

Slade looked at one of the workers. "I see you have recruited Professor Chang for you exploit," commented Slade. "You are almost correct," replied Death Wing, "These are clones of Professor Chang. I had him transferred here while the prison was under the impression that this was a correctional facility. He has agreed to allow me to borrow his knowledge and his physical appearance for this operation. I combined his knowledge with mine and I updated his body." "Interesting," said Slade, sounding almost bored. "Why do all of your workers look like him?" "All of my workers are clones with artificial brains that can store masses of information. They feel no pain and are obedient to my every command. They all share a wireless uplink to the Internet so that they can find out the answer to any question they do not know. They also can remember anything they see or hear. I can access their memories from the main computer."

Slade was impressed against his will. "You must be the recluse in the newspapers," he said. "It was all over the headlines that somebody had bought out Greenland." Death Wind nodded. "A recluse is what I wish to be until the appropriate moment arrives. Slade gave that a thought, and then said, "You could drop this whole scheme, make a fortune on patents alone, and buy the whole world." Death Wing allowed himself a smirk and then said, "That would be true in some parts, except for the fact that some countries think that they are better than they really are and would charge more than I would make on patents. Also, that would be defeating the purpose wouldn't it?" "Very true," said Slade, "but what do you need me for?"

"I thought we'd get to that question," said Death Wing, leading Slade out into another lab. "First off, you are one of the Teen Titan's greatest enemies. You also possess the cunning and skill that far outmatches that of most. I need your particular skills to help me create a grand army of clones. "Spare me the drama," said Slade. "Why do you need _my_ help?" "Because you can help me kidnap all of the super powered individuals out there that will not join willingly." He slowed down, and then turned to face Slade.

My machines can scan any individual's body and instantly get all of their genes, memories, personality, and powers into readable files. I can take those files and use them to alter one person's biology or to create an entirely new person. If I were to scan in a person with super powers, I could copy those powers into a new person who would do exactly what I say, and create an army." "I see now," said Slade. "So whom do I start with?" "Now now," said Death Wing, "let's get you equipped." He walked to a desk and pushed a button. A doorway appeared in the wall behind him. He and Slade walked in together. "These wristbands," said Death Wing, pulling some wristbands off of the wall, "will render the wearer completely incapable of moving any part of his or her body except for the wearer's head. This will also nullify any superpowers that person my have." The walked out and walked down a hall until they reached another room, where they saw several clones of Professor Chang struggling with Terra. "I have had your ex-apprentice brought here so that I can scan her into the system. Would you care to watch the process?"

Terra had been lazered off of the rock she had stood on when she ended the lava flow. She was now on a small pedestal in a transparent chamber. Death Wing took up the controls of a machine. First, a huge revolving machine slowly descended from the ceiling and bright lights seemed to surround Terra. As this happened, all of Terra's genes, appearance files, memories, personality, and abilities appeared on a computer screen. Then, the machine rose back up into the ceiling. Slade watched in silence. The Professor Chang clones struggled to remove Terra from the pedestal. "Your turn," said Death Wing, looking at Slade. "And why would I want to get in there," asked Slade, surprised. "Because," answered Death Wing, "I need to scan you into the system. And, if you'll permit me, I would like to replace your brain with one of my inorganic ones. This will allow me to remotely access your memories incase something should happen to you. The inorganic brain would also grant you a photographic memory, and would allow me to contact you without alerting anyone in the vicinity." "So, during this process, you are going to rip out my brain, copy all of the files on it, and insert a new one, correct," said Slade, more that a tad dubious. "Yes," said Death Wing, "and the process is painless, I assure you." "Do any of your past associates have inorganic brains?" asked Slade, who was now o top of the pedestal in the chamber. "Yes," said Death Wing, who was typing on a keyboard, "all of them."

The process took only about 45 seconds, but to Slade, it seemed shorter. There was a slight tickling feeling but other than that, he didn't feel any different. "Now," said Death Wing, "phase two begins," and for a moment, Slade saw something in Death Wings eyes: madness, but then it was gone as soon as it had come. Slade walked with Death Wing as he showed him where the hanger was. Slade boarded a jet, and turned around to see several Terras following them.

"These are your soldiers," said Death Wing. They will obey your every command." They boarded the ship. Slade turned to board as well when Death Wing said, "oh, and Slade." Slade turned around to look at Death Wing. "If you fail," said Death Wing, "don't come back." The he turned on his heel and walked off. Slade boarded the ship and muttered under his breath, "you don't have to worry about _me_ failing."


	4. Chapter 3 Peacful Gathering?

"Titans, go," shouted Robin and Aqualad together. Titans East and West had gotten together for a barbeque and some football. Robin passed the ball to Cyborg, who ran it a couple of yards and the passed it to Starfire who flew in for a touchdown. "We are victorious," exclaimed Starfire. "Yeah, but it looks like were gonna have to cut this short," said Cyborg, "there's a prison break. "We'll come with you," said Bumble Bee. The two teams ran towards the prison only to find somebody waiting for them.

"Terra," said Beast Boy running up to her. "Yes," she said, eyes flashing yellow. Then she threw Beast Boy away from her and sent a barrage or rocks at the rest of the titans.

While Terra was keeping the Titans busy, Slade had entered the prison facility with several other clones of Terra. As they ran towards the maximum-security area, they encountered three security guards. "Terraclones two and three," commanded Slade, "take out those security guards." Still running, Terraclones two and three focused on the ground in front of the security guards and created three Earth Creatures which grabbed the security guards and held them tight. Aqualad, who had made it past the first Terraclone, ran after them. As soon as he saw the Earth Creatures, he destroyed them with carefully precisioned water blasts. Terraclones two and three felt this in their minds and alerted Slade to Aqualad's arrival. "Terraclones four and five," he said smugly, "capture Aqualad with this," flinging a wristband at Terraclone four, "and take him to the ship undetected. De sure to destroy his communicator." "Yes sir," Terraclones four and five.

They ran off to intercept Aqualad as Slade and the other clones reached the jail cells. 'Slade,' said Death Wing in Slade's mind, 'I have hacked the system and the doors of the prisoners that we will need are going to open in five, four, three, two, one.' Several doors swung open. Slade and Terraclones two, three, six, seven, and eight stepped into the respective cells and came out with their prisoners: Brother Blood, Jynx, Gizmo, Mammoth, Overload, Cinderblock, a sleeping Plasmus, and Blackfire, who had recently been captured by the Titans. Terraclones four and five signaled that they had Aqualad on the ship that was directly over where their current positions. Suddenly, the roof exploded and in came the Titans, Beast Boy carrying Terraclone one in his arms.

"Slade," said Robin through gritted teeth, "I should've known you were behind this." "Yeah, and what have you done with Terra?" asked Beast Boy before he took in his surroundings. "You cloned her?" "Yes, that is a clone," said Slade amused, "although I wasn't the one who cloned her. You can take that up with my current employer." Then, Terraclone one woke up and dispatched Beast Boy with a punishing roundhouse kick that only one person could have done. "And you modified her DNA," noted Raven, preparing to attack. "She now also had his skills," stated Robin for the benefit of the rest of the Titans. "That would be correct. Now, if you'll excuse us…" said Slade. The rest of the ceiling was blasted away by rock while the ground underneath Slade and Terraclone one lifted the remaining Terraclones off the ground. "I'll be seeing you dear sister," sneered Blackfire, "whenever I can move again." They boarded the ship and took off for Greenland. "Raven, Starfire, Bumble Bee," commanded Robin, "follow that ship." They nodded and flew off. "The rest of you split up and search for Aqualad."

Meanwhile… three Terraclones entered the backstage area of a Broadway Musical and entered the dressing room of Vanessa Carlysle and waited. After the show was over, Vanessa came into her dressing room, locked the door, changed into her normal appearance, and then turned around only to see the three Terraclones. "Aw how sweet," said Vanessa, "you came to get an autograph only to find out that your favorite actress is a mutant." One of the Terraclones took a step forward but stopped as the door burst open and an African American man came running in.

Vanessa whirled around and said, "Ah, Jesse Aaronson. To what do I owe this displeasure?" "You know why Copycat," said Jesse. That was when the Terraclones acted. One slipped a wristband on Jesse Aaronson and he crumpled to he floor. Another Terraclone tried to put one on Copycat but she was to fast for the Terraclone. Copycat switched off the lights and transformed into a bear. Then, a Terraclone turned on a light to reveal one Terraclone on what used to be a chunk of the dressing room floor holding Jesse. Another Terraclone slowly advanced on Copycat. Behind her, one of Slade's mercenaries dropped in from a hole I the ceiling. He grabbed her arm and slipped on a wristband. Copycat screamed as her molecules were painfully forced to rearrange themselves. Now, unconscious and in her true form, the mercenary picked her up and lifted the Terraclones up on a rock and into the night.


	5. Chapter 4 The Story Unfolds

Starfire, Raven, and Bumble Bee were in hot pursuit of the ship that Slade and the Terraclones were in. Starfire began to launch starbolts at the ship as soon as it was in range. Soon after, Bumble Bee opened fire as well. A platform opened on top of the ship and Terraclones one through four as well as three of Slade's mercenaries were on it. Every one of their eyes was glowing yellow. Suddenly, the ground below them rose and began to attack the three Titans. Bumble Bee went tiny and hid on the platform. Starfire was hit by a huge rock and plummeted into the ocean that was now beneath them. Raven dived to catch Starfire before she went underwater.

Slade took the opportunity and lowered the platform. Then they punched the throttle and sped off the Greenland. When Starfire and Raven got back to Titans Tower, Robin and Speedy had opened communications with Bumble Bee. "I'm in the cargo hold. There are a bunch of villains and – there's Aqualad!" she exclaimed. "Alright," said Speedy, "Don't do anything to get yourself caught." "Can't --- you --- out," said Bumble Bee. Then they heard nothing but static. "Bee," shouted Speedy. "Don't worry about her," said Robin placing a hand on Speedy's shoulder, "she's tough. She'll make it out okay." "Hopefully she will come with our friend Aqualad," said a worried Starfire.

In Greenland… "Here are the prisoners you requested," said Slade smugly, "and we have an extra with us, Aqualad." "Very good," said Death Wing, pleased at this recent turn of events. Bumble Bee watched in silence. "Now," said Death Wing, "enemies of the Teen Titans, I have two ways of dealing with you. Both ways are easy so it's just a simple choice. "What's the easy ways," asked Mammoth. "The easy ways are this," stated Death Wing, "easy way number one: you get scanned into my system so that I can make a better clone army. You will be given inorganic brains. After the process is complete, you will be deposited in Jump City, with no memory of this, free to cause mass destruction. Easy way number two is that you still get scanned in, you still get the inorganic brains, but you can work for me, retain you memories and will rule a country in my new world order, if you want of course. Only Plasmus chose not to stay. "Bring out the other prisoners," said Death Wing and soon, Copycat, Aqualad, and Jesse Aaronson were dumped with everybody else. "You wont get away with this," said Jesse. Death Wing laughed. "On the contrary," he said, "I already have."

First, they scanned in Aqualad, then Copycat, and lastly, Jesse Aaronson. "And how will having a virtual copy of us help you," asked Copycat. "We come from various organizations that will come looking for us," stated Aqualad confidently. "But why would they come looking for you if you aren't missing?" asked Death Wing. "Hm, this is some of the weakest telepathy I've ever seen. Scan in Brother Blood."

This was when Bumblebee acted. She blasted Slade and the other clones and then grabbed Aqualad and flew off… or rather, tried to fly off. She was caught by an electric screen and was thrown away, landing at Death Wing's feet. "Ah yes, Bumblebee," said Slade, "you didn't think that I wouldn't remember that we were attacked by three people now did you?" "Excellent," stated Death Wing, slipping a wristband on Bumblebee. After scanning n everybody else, two of Slade's mercenary clones took Plasmus back to Jump City. On the opposite wall of the chamber Death Wing was in, four pods became active. Slowly, in a period of 1 minute, four figures became clearly distinguishable. As the clones stepped out, Death Wing grabbed four portable devices and gave one to each clone. The four clones went off to the hanger and each got into a mini jet and flew off to their respective cities. Death Wing stood in silence in his office. The portable devices he had given to the clones were portable scanning devices. They couldn't change a persons DNA or give other people artificial brains but at least they could scan in and transmit data quickly.

Then, his secretary alerted him of an incoming call. He groaned and turned to face his video screen. A face of a man with steely gray hair and eyes that seemed to have a sort of fire in them appeared on the screen. "Ah," said Death Wing, "Magneto. Such a pleasure to see you again." "Enough with the pleasantries," snarled Magneto, "have you done what I asked?" "All that and more," replied Death Wing in a calm demeanor, although inside he seethed.

After the X-Men had killed Magneto, he had brought magneto back to life, and yet, here he was being treated like a child. "In the process of securing the prisoners, we were also able to secure Aqualad and Bumblebee of the Teen Titans and Jesse Aaronson of the X-Force. They have been cloned and are now on their way to their respective teams with the portable scanners." "And Copycat?" asked Magneto. "Cloned and in our prison facility. Her clone should be arriving in New York momentarily," replied Death Wing. Magneto's features softened. "Good," he said, "let the next stage of the plan commence. I will be scanning in the mutate and human populace of Genosha soon." With that, the screen went blank.


	6. Chapter 5 Children of the Atom

Chapter 4: Children of the Atom

"…And in other news, Broadway star Vanessa Carlysle was found today in the safety of her apartment this after an attempted kidnapping by mutants," said a reporter, "and now-". Jean Grey turned off the television in the living room of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. All heads turned to look at one man. "Okay people," said Scott Summers, "we know that Vanessa is a shape shifting mutant called Copycat who posed as Dominoe in the X-Force for a few months. We also know that she recently impersonated another mutant of the X-Force, Jesse Aaronson, and got him into some trouble at a bar, but other than that, we don't know why anyone would want to kidnap her."

Scott Summers was no ordinary man. Like his wife Emma Frost, he was a mutant, the next stage of humanity. Scott also went by the codename Cyclops. He had the ability to shoot concussive force beams from his eyes. His wife Emma Frost, alias the White Queen, was a telepath and could change her skin to diamond. Jean Grey, alias Phoenix, was a telepath and a telekinetic. They were just two of the members of the X-Men.

"True," said Betsy Braddock, codename Psylocke, "but Vanessa was a mutant. It is possible that somebody might have needed her particular abilities for a scheme of theirs." "Yes," said Phoenix, "but that doesn't explain why Jesse would disappear like he did." Ring… a phone rang next to another X-Man, Rouge. She answered it, "Hey Nate, any new on Jesse yet? You found him? That's great… you too, bye." She hung up the phone and said, "Everyone is present and accounted for. Y'all, I have to agree with Betsy on this one. But who do we know that can cause earthquakes?" They all thought for a moment. "There's Avalanche," suggested Rouge. "Prison," interrupted Logan, aka Wolverine. "Earthquake himself," said Betsy. "He is currently in deep space," said Ororo Munroe, codename Storm, "so we can rule him out." "Wasn't there something on the news a year ago about a villain taking over a city by California?" asked Jean. "Yeah," said Wolverine, "but she ain't our concern. Those kids over there had the situation under control." "Plus," said Scott, "I also heard that she was turned to stone." "Yes but there is something on the news about a prison break performed by that same girl," stated Sage now entering the room/ "Her ex-team mates, the Teen Titans say that she was cloned." Cyclops dwelled on these facts for a few seconds and then said, "Alright, I think a few of us should make a visit to the Teen Titans. While some of us are doing that, others of us should investigate the claims of clones being used." ""Our 'good friends' at the Hellfire Club have used cloning machines in the past," said Rouge. "'Crawler and I can do some investigating there." "I can ask Bryan to check out the London Branch," volunteered Psylocke.

"Okay, so," stated Cyclops, "Jean, Sage, and I will talk to the Titans. Rouge, Nightcrawler, and Wolverine will check out the Hong Kong Branch of the Hellfire club. Psylocke, why don't you and Emma check out the New York Branch? Storm, you Beast and Iceman investigate the branch in Sydney.

Phoenix flashed Cyclops a smile and knew why he had assigned her to the Titans. There was a certain someone in the Hellfire Club that neither of them would ever wish to encounter again. Sage also smiled at Cyclops for similar reasons. Not so long ago, she had been Tessa, assistant to the Black King of the Hellfire Club's Hong Kong Branch. He had tried to kill her once and would likely try too again. Tessa had no surname. She had abandoned it long ago. She was often considered to be a living computer. She was once a ruthless adversary of the X-Men. But times have changed.

"Any questions?" asked Cyclops, breaking Sage out of her reverie. "None," she said, but still couldn't quite bring herself to meet Cyclops's eyes.


End file.
